DAVAO CITY–The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in Southern Mindanao has recommended a 50-centavo provisional fare increase in the region following a petition by transport groups.
Southern Mindanao is among several Mindanao regions left out of the fare increase ordered by the LTFRB central office in February amid the successive rise in the price of petroleum products.
Edgar Violan, LTFRB Southern Mindanao director, said Thursday that transport groups in the region asked the agency to grant them the provisional increase as temporary relief against the rise in fuel prices.
But Violan said the transport sector, including the South Eastern Mindanao Diversified Drivers Operators Coop. (Semddoc), wanted the LTFRB to subsequently approve a fare rate increase of P2 for the first four kilometers and 35 centavos for each of the next succeeding kilometers.
Manuel Duran, Semddoc president, said their petition was filed on March 23.
He said the petition for fare increase was justified because fuel prices had gone up nine-fold in recent days.
But Violan said the LTFRB was not keen on approving the higher basic fare rate the transport groups have sought at this time.
He said the provisional increase was justified though and a new order to this effect could soon be out.
Duran said the provisional increase would not be enough to cushion the effect of the fluctuating prices of oil and that LTFRB should approve the fare increase petition.
He said that if the government wanted transport groups not to rant about fuel prices, it should scrap the oil deregulation law, which has been causing prices to spiral.